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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Fusion Science and Technology
November 2025
Latest News
AI at work: Southern Nuclear’s adoption of Copilot agents drives fleet forward
Southern Nuclear is leading the charge in artificial intelligence integration, with employee-developed applications driving efficiencies in maintenance, operations, safety, and performance.
The tools span all roles within the company, with thousands of documented uses throughout the fleet, including improved maintenance efficiency, risk awareness in maintenance activities, and better-informed decision-making. The data-intensive process of preparing for and executing maintenance operations is streamlined by leveraging AI to put the right information at the fingertips for maintenance leaders, planners, schedulers, engineers, and technicians.
Steven P. Reynolds, Gregory C. Staack, Benjamin J. Morgan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 77 | Number 7 | November 2021 | Pages 848-857
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2021.1906135
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Savannah River Site has used the metal hydride LaNi4.25Al0.75 (LANA.75) in the Tritium Facilities for over two decades. LANA.75 beds store significant quantities of tritium but have a limited service life due to the radiolytic decay of tritium to 3He within the metal matrix. It has been shown that the isotherm performance of a tritium-aged LANA.75 sample can be restored by heating under vacuum. Additional investigation is needed to ensure there are no unexpected changes to the hydride before this technique is employed in full-scale beds in the Tritium Facilities. In addition, it is necessary to verify the regenerable behavior and thermal stability of LANA.75 on a small scale prior to it being implemented on a large scale.
A non-tritiated bench-scale LANA.75 sample was held at 750°C under vacuum for 200 h to simulate exposure to multiple restoration evolutions. Hydride isotherm performance, chemical composition, crystallinity, and morphology are compared between the pre-restorative and post-restorative testing samples. No significant changes were observed in composition or crystallinity. Comparison of pre-anneal and post-anneal isotherms showed that performance improved rather than deteriorated during the evolution. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed small growths on the particle surface after exposure to regeneration conditions. Additional testing will be required to determine the cause of these growths.
